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Friday, December 13, 2013

Shannon Frye, Student Work, Gregor's Room

No tape or glue allowed for this project.

Materials are white copy paper and Winsor Newton Ink.

The bed measures approx. 8" x 4.5" x 4".

I started my project knowing I wanted to model my pieces after Gregor's room in the beginning of the story. This meant that everything would look clean and not lived in. Since Gregor is a traveling salesman I thought it would be interesting if I could create contrast between a tired, worn Gregor and a new, bright setting. Since his life revolves around time, I also decided to create his alarm clock to sit across from him. To create the crisp furniture I researched origami techniques and adapted them to have additional tabs and folds in order to make the shapes I needed. While reading the book, I imagined his blanket to look homemade, like it was crocheted or quilted. I mimicked that by weaving pieces of paper together. -Shannon Frye

My final results reflect my original goal. I think Gregor's organic shape is in contrast with his geometric furniture. In addition, there is contrast between the realistic human room and Gregor's up-scaled insect form. I decided to make Gregor sitting up. At the beginning of the story, Gregor's main concern is getting to work and going about his normal routine despite his obvious transformation. Here I depicted him as if he were still a man getting out of bed to go to work. I tried to communicate his tired disposition through his down-turned antennas and angled position. When adding color I chose muted tones that I originally imagined while reading the story. The most vibrant color is the red of the alarm clock, which as previously stated, was his main concern at the beginning of the story. I also added lines to the quilt to match the straight lines of the furniture. Over all, I feel my depiction of Gregor's room reflects the beginning of the story when Gregor still has his humanity but is oblivious to the derailing effects of his transformation. - Shannon Frye